Mass Effect: A Shepard's Journey
by the unknown spirit
Summary: Shepard faced the greatest decision of her life. Good thing she didn't have to make it alone. A different version of the Mass Effect 3's ending with a new story afterwards.


**Hello. **

**So after buying the Mass Effect Trilogy and becoming a massive fan of the series, I figured I write a little something of my own. Not that I dislike…okay so I disliked the ending. I still didn't hate it. I just think it could have been better.**

**So same for the other stories, I'm sure there will be plenty of mistakes I've made, grammatical and otherwise but such is life of someone who does this for fun and not for payment.**

**Let's get started.**

* * *

"Illusive Man….."

Shepard gazed over the body of her now dead foe with little sadness but also a fair amount of pity. He had done so many terrible things to galaxy, tortured and killed innocent people, his own subordinates even and yet he still believed that his work was for the best of humanity. And he realized that he failed in the end. There was a respectful quality in that….Somewhere.

"Agh…."

Noticing her friend's moan, Shepard limped her way towards Anderson.

"God…It's been years since I just….sat down." Anderson stated beyond exhausted as he stared out toward earth. Even with all the destruction and the current battle outside, it was still a sight to behold.

"Well…If anyone deserves a rest it's you." Shepard strained to say as her body collapsed next to his. "You kept earth alive."

A smile grew across Anderson's face at those words.

"You're one to talk….You united the whole damn galaxy. All I did was hold down the fort. You're the person who deserves a rest."

"You…..gonna ground me again?"

"I tried that last time….Odds are you'd find a way back."

Shepard did her best to laugh but the pain quickly cut her off.

"I'm not sure…..Retirement doesn't sound so bad right now." Shepard replied as another sensation of pain gripped her.

"….Shepard."

"Yes…sir?"

"Did…..Do you have anyone waiting for you?"

"…..Yeah…. Garrus."

"The Turian?... I always…." A bout of coughing seized him before he could continue.

Shepard noticed it was mostly blood being coughed up.

"I always thought you had a thing for him."

"Yeah…"

Shepard looked out into the sky thinking of the one person she cared about most in this galaxy. Screw that, this universe and praying he was ok.

"I….. I wanted to…..see him…..just one last time."

"Hmm…..I feel the same."

"Kahlee?"

"Yeah…..If I could have just one more chance…I'd never let her go…."

The pair went quiet as reaper on the outside destroyed a ship. It didn't really matter how many were on it at this point. So much life had been lost over the course of this war that a ship seemed minuscule at best.

"I'm…sorry Captain." Shepard said about to pass out from exhaustion.

"No….You…did good child…..I'm proud of you." Anderson finished before going silent.

"Anderson?"

Silence was her only response.

Shepard wanted to cry but before she could a voice came through her intercom.

"Shepard?! Shepard are you there?!" Hacket practically screamed.

"Yeah…."

"Something's wrong the Crucible is firing!"

As soon as she heard that she wanted to just fall over and laugh. It could never be simple could it? They couldn't just simply win. No that would be too easy.

"Ok….just give me…a sec." Shepard replied weakly.

"Shepard…Repeat …Interfer…" Hackett's signal cut out after that.

With all the strength she could muster, Shepard attempted to crawl her way to the control panel. Leaving a trail of fresh blood behind her.

"C'mon….Move." Shepard weakly ordered her body as she inched closer to the control panel. But with every inch her strength dropped phenomenally fast.

"Damn it…..I just…..need…" Without another word her body just collapsed.

As she slipped into unconsciousness, she thought she saw the ground getting further and further away.

* * *

Outside the Citadel what was once a battle was now turning into a massacre. The Reapers were completely decimating the Alliances fleet as well as all the others that had joined up for this final assault.

In the middle of all the chaos, one lone Alliance ship was getting ready for another suicide mission.

"Joker! Why the Hell are we still out here and not at the Citadel!"

"I don't know maybe it's the fact that I can't go two seconds without some god damn laser firing at the Normandy or the fact that we're being chased by a reaper or a thousand other things so SHUT UP!"

Joker then pulled of a maneuver that would make the most seasoned of pilots say "wow" before focusing back the conversation.

"EDI's scanning for Shepard anyway! If we find her I'll get as close as I possibly can. So be ready."

"Got it."

Tali then made her way down to the med bay passing through all the other crew men desperately trying to make sure the Normandy survived this mission. Before getting in the elevator, she talked to The Normandy's Comm Specialist.

"Traynor. Any word from the admiral?"

"He's saying we might have to pull back if that Crucible doesn't fire."

"Tell him we can't. If we leave now, the whole galaxy is done for."

"Got it."

"Any word from the other fleets?"

"The Turian and Quarian Fleets are getting hit pretty hard. If we don't end this soon, Palaven might not have a fleet anymore."

"Tell them to hold out for as long as they can." Tali said with the Elevator doors closing.

Once down in the Medical Bay, Tali looked over to the two who last saw Shepard.

"How are you holding up Garrus?"

"Well you know. Just one more scar to add to the list. Shepard?" The Turian asked getting his armor back on.

"No word. We know she's inside but she's gone dark."

"Well…..That's comforting."

"Don't worry Garrus. This is Shepard we're talking about. She died and she still came back."

"I know but…."

Tali put her hand on his shoulder

"She'll make it."

"I agree." A voice chimed in.

"Liara? You're awake."

"It is kind of hard to stay asleep when you're in the middle of a war." Liara said sitting up from bed.

"Fair point. Are you okay?"

"No…..but I'll live." Liara said getting back on her feet.

"EDI any sign of Shepard?"

"I've scanned the entire layout of the Citadel but I can't locate Shepard's position." EDI's voice returned.

"What do you mean you can't?!"

"Her signal is still active but I can't pinpoint where it's coming from." EDI replied.

"Damn it!" Garrus said punching a wall.

"What if we…"

The Normandy shook as an explosion nearby shook the ship.

"Damn it. You guys need to decide what we're doing. I can't keep maneuvering like this forever!" Joker said through the intercom.

"Do you have a plan Tali?" Liara asked.

Tali looked at the two in front of her before nodding.

"Yeah. If you two are feeling up to it."

"Good. For a second there I thought I would have been the only non human going. Let's get to the others"

"Others?"

"James and Ashley are already down in the Shuttle Bay. What? You think we were going to send you two alone down there? You saw how that worked out last time."

"Good point." Garrus replied grabbing his helmet.

"Quite. Reminds me of how Tali did before Shepard came along." Liara said limping her way to the elevator.

"Oh yeah, the helpless damsel in distress. Good times." Garrus agreed putting his helmet on.

" C'mon Vakarian."

* * *

"Always the charmer."

"You think Lola's ok?"

James asked as he checked over his sub machine gun.

"I…..I don't know."

"Well good to see you're confident Ash."

"Look Jimmy, If anyone is okay it's her. She…."

James looked over after she paused.

"She's the greatest soldier I've ever known."

"No argument there. She's damn amazing."

"But this…this is just insane."

"You planning on running." James asked.

"Hell no! I turned my back on her when she needed me for the Collectors. I sure as hell am not going to this time."

"Glad to hear it…..Hey don't suppose..." James started.

The Elevator opening interrupted before he could finish.

"What?" Ashley asked confused.

"Nevermind. I'll ask once this is over."

"Save the Honeymoon for later love birds we've got a job to do."

"Glad to see your mouth wasn't blown off down on earth Garrus." James replied.

"Thanks Vega."

"Okay if we're all here what's the plan?" Ashley asked.

"EDI." Tali requested.

A layout of the Citadel came up before them

"Commander Shepard is located somewhere in the Citadel but I can't get fix on her location." EDI's voice echoed.

"Okay so then how are we supposed to find her." Ashley asked.

"Seeing as how the Commander as gone silent on the Comms, I've changed my scanners around to search for her life signs. They're still operational if fading."

"Fading?" Garrus asked.

"Yes it appears she's been wounded heavily. If she is not found soon, she will most likely die." EDI replied. Bringing up the rapidly depleting life stats of the Normandy's commander.

"No…."

"We'll save her Garrus." Tali replied reassuring him before talking to EDI. "So can you pinpoint her position if you have her life signs?"

"It is currently impossible to triangulate the Commander's position exactly but according to scans she doesn't appear to be in any marked position on the Citadel."

"That doesn't make any sense. The Citadel has had people living on it for decades how could she be in an unmarked area?" Ashley asked.

"The Reapers are the ones who originally built the Citadel." Liara replied. "There are probably multiple hidden locations we don't know about on it."

"So that's where Shepard is? At an unmarked part of the Citadel?" James asked making sure.

"Seventy Six percent probability actually." EDI replied.

"Ok, so how do we get to this place that isn't marked." Ashley asked. "Enter the Citadel and just start searching?"

"Sure it's not like there's a war going on….." Garrus retorted.

Another explosion on the outside rocked the ship.

"Funny. But still how are we going to do this?"Liara asked focusing back on the target.

"We're going in the same way she did." Lieutenant Cortez stated surprising the group with his appearance.

"The Portal? But that's back on Earth. You'd have to set the ship down there drop us off and….."

"You won't be dropped off." Cortez interrupted.

"Wait….are you…" James started.

"Suggesting we take the shuttle through it?" Tali finished

"Yeah. Joker takes us down as low and as close as he can to the portal. We then eject the shuttle with us on it and fly it through the portal."

"Or get shot down before we even make it to the damn thing. Or we get to the damn thing and the shuttle explodes." James responded.

"You got a better idea?" Cortez asked.

"Nope. Let's do it."James said smiling.

"That still doesn't solve the Reapers you know. What if we get to Shepard and there is no way to stop them?" Ashley asked.

Everyone looked down or away at the question before Garrus said what was pretty much on everyone elses minds.

"Look. We all knew these were probably going to be our last moments. Shepard made that pretty clear for all of us. At this point I think we've all made our peaces."

"If there is no way to destroy the Reapers, then so be it. But I'll be damned if I'm going leave the Commander now when there is still hope."

"I know it's probably impossible but…If these are our last moments, I'm not going to leave her there." Garrus said standing up.

"…Shepard risked her life to save mine Goddess knows how many times. I wouldn't be able to call her my friend if I wasn't able to do the same." Liara agreed also standing up though with much greater effort.

"Hell yeah." Ashley replied.

"Damn straight." James yelled out.

"Everyone agreed?" Tali asked her squadmates. When not a single person disagreed she continued.

"Good. Let's get our Commander."

"Got that Joker?"Tali asked. As everyone moved toward the shuttle.

"No problem. Hackett's gonna throw a fit though."

"He can rage all he likes once we've got Shepard back." Ashely replied getting into the shuttle.

"Amen to that." Joker agreed.

"_Hang on just a bit longer Shepard. We're coming."_ Garrus thought to himself as the shuttle doors close.

"Ready EDI?"

"When you are Jeff." EDI replied turning to her fellow pilot.

"Admiral Hackett, this is the Normandy…... We're going back for Shepard!"

* * *

**What did you think? Good, Bad? Leave a review and let me know. See ya guys later.**


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